slow roll meaning (slang): definition, quotations

slow roll

verb

Card games, Poker Slang To make a long pause before calling an all-in bet with a strong, usually very strong, hand.

Card games, Poker Slang To make a long pause before revealing one's winning hand.

Broadly To obstruct by delaying; to slow-walk.

The president is upset with congressional leaders for slow-rolling his core campaign promise, and for failing to defund sanctuary cities in their spending bill.2018 March 21, Elaina Plott, “Trump Vents His Anger Over Border-Wall Funding”, in The Atlantic:
“Aah! What did you do?” “Vulcans do not require as much sleep as humans, so I spent the night fully repairing the shuttle.” “Aw, this is terrible.” “I am failing to find the logic in your dissatisfaction.” “I was trying to slow-roll the repairs.” “Slow-roll?” “Tendi and I used to work on this every day. It was our project. She'll be so sad it's done.” “You are implying that the act of collaboration is more important than the work itself.” “I know, I know, it's silly, but...” “No. My request for your aid in studying was an exaggeration. I was trying to deceive you into socializing as well.”2024 October 24, Keith Foglesong, “Shades of Green” (18:52 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 5, episode 2, spoken by Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero):

1 more example

Of course, the Russians want to slow-roll this. They're hoping the whole thing will go away as they successfully slow-rolled Trump's efforts during the first six months.2025 August 21, John Bolton, quotee, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, via CNN:

slow roll

noun

Card games, Poker Slang An instance of slow rolling.

Saw a very strange slow roll last night in a $20/$40 game. A guy raises with KK and another player calls, all-in, with 99. Flop and turn are rainbow rags. Then, for reasons known only to him and God, the dealer decides to get cute with the river card. He peeks at the corner, pauses dramatically, looks at both players, then turns up a 9 on the river. I've seen a lot of players slow roll but it's unusual to see a dealer do it. A lively discussion followed.2007, Irish Mike, “A strange slow roll”, in rec.gambling.poker (Usenet):

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A maneuver in which the aircraft makes a complete rotation around its roll axis while maintaining a straight and level flight path.